Published: November 10, 2007 01:57 am      

Coldspring falls to Splendora 22-15

Costly red-zone turnovers doom playoff-bound Trojans

SPLENDORA — For the second week in a row, the Coldspring Trojans found out the hard way that turnovers in the red zone can be costly.

This time it cost them a shot at the District 22-3A title.

Three fumbles by the Trojans on Friday proved to be critical in a hard-fought 22-15 loss to Splendora.

Coldspring had a shot at finishing in a three-way tie for first place with a win and would have been the No. 2 seed in District 22-3A behind Splendora. Instead, the Trojans (5-5 overall, 3-2 in district) finish a disappointing third, a position that Coldspring head coach Bryan Barbay had a tough time swallowing after the game.

“It’s a sickening feeling right now,” Barbay said. “Just like last week, you can’t get the ball inside the 10-yard line, turn the ball over and expect to win. At times we’re a good football team, and sometimes we aren’t.”

The Trojans had every opportunity to win the game, including an unexpected gift when they recovered a Josh Ables fumble while the Wildcats (7-3, 5-0) were trying to run out the clock.

With just over a minute left in the game and the Trojans trailing 22-15, quarterback Chad Allen led a drive down to the Wildcats’ 28-yard line. However, on second-and-10, Earnest Wyatt fumbled the handoff on a reverse from Allen and Splendora’s Joe Connell scooped up the loose ball to seal the game.

“We made it exciting there at the end when we forced that fumble,” Barbay said. “I called a reverse and we drop it. They said the pitch was kind of low but it doesn’t really matter now.”

Early in the contest, it was Coldspring which received the breaks. On the second play of scrimmage, Ables fumbled at the Wildcats’ own 31-yard line, giving the Trojans a short field with which to work. Two plays later, Wyatt showed his speed on a 26-yard dash into the end zone.

Like the way it would play out most of the night, Splendora answered the Trojans’ first score, using nine consecutive running plays with three different backs, capped off by a 10-yard touchdown scamper from Ables. The senior fullback finished the evening with 72 yards on 13 carries.

Coldspring’s first turnover of the night came on a fumble by running back Zavius Johnson at the Trojans’ 31-yard line. Once again, the turnover was converted into points when Mathew Kite scored on a 9-yard run.

The Trojans almost scored right before halftime on a near-miraculous 44-yard halfback pass from Donnie Davidson to Wyatt. However, Wyatt stumbled and fell down at the 1-yard line as the final second ticked off the clock.

Coldspring took its first drive of the second half 55 yards to Splendora’s 5-yard line, only to see Johnson miss on a pitch and turn the ball over. That proved to be one of the game’s most critical plays.

In the fourth quarter, the Trojans went to the aerial attack with Allen, who turned a fourth-and-goal play into a touchdown pass to Johnson in the corner of the end zone. Johnson then ran it in for the 2-point conversion.

“We threw more than we usually do tonight,” Barbay said. “They loaded the line and gave us some stuff on the outside. It might be something we’ll have to do next week too.”

It was Splendora, though, that proved to have the final answer. Slover ran for 42 yards on five carries in the pivotal last scoring drive that ended with his own 16-yard touchdown run to make the final score 22-15.

Coldspring now has to play West Orange-Stark in Dayton at 2 p.m. next Saturday in the bi-district round of the Class 3A playoffs.